And so it begins...

Welcome to my first pathetic attempt at blogging. Actually, I lie. This is my second such attempt. The initial site is, I believe, lost in the electronic ether, somewhere between my ISP's FTP server and the cracked green switchbox on my neighbor's lawn that supposedly manages our neighbourhood's network traffic. I couldn't get the initial site to work, so I abandoned it and started over.

So here's the deal: I'm a journalist with a knack for technology (except for blogs and FTP sites, mind you.) After graduating j-school (Montreal's Concordia University. Yes, that Concordia) and spending a few years interviewing politicians, bureaucrats and other crackpots for Montreal's top FM radio station, I detoured into the somewhat more anonymous wilds of information technology. I have spent the better part of the last decade launching and managing helpdesks for large insurance companies, then more recently managing projects and leading tier 2 technology support teams.

Along the way, my wife and I (OK, my wife...I just stood around and tried to be helpful) had a little munchkin - now a much larger munchkin - and moved to London, Ontario, where we added two more little people to our family. Through it all, I've nurtured this dream of building a career solely based on my ability to string words together. Make that my perceived ability.

How I got back into writing in earnest is as bizarro as the rest of me: A couple of years back, I started doodling on my laptop while waiting in an airport lounge early one morning. I was flying to Montreal to be with my father, who was having surgery that morning. The resulting column was published in the London Free Press, my city's daily newspaper. It was such a cool experience that I kept sending stuff in. It has since grown into a biweekly Op Ed column for the paper.

You can find my most recent stuff at the follwing address:

http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/levy_c.html

I also pen business/technology features and columns for eLondon Magazine. My tech-rantings can also be found on Processor.com, an American tech newspaper for geeks like me.

Anyhoo, the writing thing was such a rush that I decided it would be fun to pitch the whole insurance-IT-kiss your-moronic-leader's-behind thing and toss words around full-time. So last October, I left my comfortable, staid, conservative IT/PM/Financial Services world and joined a top technology research firm here in London. I'm in the process of finishing up my first major project, a really cool methodology all about IT infrastructure. I know, scintillating for you all, but nevertheless a serious kick for me to write!

This blog will serve as my personal journal as I delve deeper into the dark recesses of a professional writing career. Along the way, I'll drop in snippets from the various corners of my life. You'll meet my very understanding, patient and wonderful wife, our unbelievably cute kids, our psychotic cat who has thumbs, and our fish (well, as long as our gilled friend sticks around, that is.)

So welcome aboard for what promises to be an interesting ride.

Onward...

Carmi Z. Levy
London, Ontario
June 26, 2004